


Don't Let Go

by helens78



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Childhood Trauma, Community: fan_flashworks, First Meetings, M/M, Revenge, Role Reversal, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-06
Updated: 2013-09-06
Packaged: 2017-12-29 02:55:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1000017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helens78/pseuds/helens78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How Erik saved Charles's life, on a cold night in the ocean.  For the "backwards" challenge at fan_flashworks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Let Go

**Author's Note:**

> Violence, and veiled references to Charles's childhood abuse.

Charles surfaces near the _Caspartina_. He sent out one quick thought-pulse, just to make sure Marko was on the boat... and he is, Marko and three of his so-called friends.

It's taken long enough, but Charles is here. Here, climbing up the side of Marko's yacht; here, on the deck, where he can draw the knife from his boot and start making his way to the stern. He could do this with his mind, but that's not enough. He wants to _see_ Marko; he wants to look him in the eyes while he realizes that it's Brian Xavier's son, come to make him pay for all his sins.

He takes another quiet step, and another, and there's Marko, coming to his feet as Charles approaches.

"Mr. Marko," Charles says evenly.

"Ah. Little Charles Francis," Marko says, smirking.

"He's here to kill you," says the blonde woman at Marko's side, and Charles reaches to his temple, tries to put her to sleep, only he _can't_ \-- her skin shimmers and shifts, hardening into crystal, into diamond, his thoughts fracture--

He still has the knife. He throws it as hard as he can, he's practiced this, but the diamond woman catches it in her hand, and in the same smooth motion, pushes him.

He takes flight.

He barely has time for a breath before he hits the water.

\---

On the Coast Guard vessel, Erik stops cold. They were rushing him downstairs, he was meant to go below decks with the others, but it's absurd, he'd be more use to them in the boats-- even if they are inflatables instead of metal-hulled. He feels it, though, the sharp point of a knife traveling forward and then stopping, the zippers on a wet suit that outline a man's body... and then that body is pushed, lifted, falls.

"Wait," he says, and he starts pushing back up the stairs, past the uniformed men, just in time to see the cyclones rush the inflatable boats.

MacTaggart gasps; even the man in black flinches. But Erik's looking for something else, someone else-- whoever it was in that wet suit, bobbing at the surface now, treading water.

"There's someone out there," Erik yells. "There's someone in the water!"

There are more bodies in the water now, all those Coast Guard men. The rest of the boat has its hands full. Erik knows he's the only one who can make it to the man in the wet suit in time. He doesn't hesitate.

He runs for the railing, tossing his coat away as he sprints, and he dives.

\---

 _Frost_ , Charles knows now. Frost, that's the diamond woman, and she's protecting Marko with that ability of hers. But she's not as strong as he is, and she can't protect everyone. Herself, Marko--

Not the rainmaker. Charles pushes his fingers against his temple, redoubles his assault on Frost herself and Marko, and splits his thoughts into three to catch the rainmaker in his grasp.

The cyclones that were coming after the larger Coast Guard vessel stop and double back, ripping through the hull of the _Caspartina_ instead. Marko may have surrounded himself with powerful allies, but he can drown like any other man. And if Frost stays in diamond form, she can damn well sink with him.

\---

In the water, Erik can feel it all: the crack of the _Caspartina_ 's hull, the split at the seams, and something even he wasn't expecting: a _second_ hull, a second vessel. Dear God, Marko had a submarine? It's like something out of a motion picture or a spy novel; Erik would never have imagined anything like that.

But beneath the surface, those cyclones won't harm anything. And he can feel the other man's arm trembling, the zipper shaking. Whatever he's doing-- and Erik knows, knows with a clarity he's rarely felt in his life, that it's _this man_ , changing the course of those cyclones, stopping Marko from whatever he was planning on doing to the Coast Guard vessel-- he won't be able to keep it up forever. His legs aren't pushing through the water as powerfully as they were. He's getting tired.

\---

At first, the destruction of the boat is enough for Charles; he loosens his grip on the rainmaker, waits for some of the Coast Guard recovery boats to get to him before he puts the rainmaker to sleep.

But he should feel Frost blink out of her diamond shape. He should feel Marko's mind slipping away.

He realizes a moment later, when the lights come on, that he's not going to get any of those things.

«You bastard,» Charles sends, as strongly as he can. His face is wet, but of course it's wet; he's in the water. The coppery taste on his upper lip-- fine, his nose is bleeding, he's pushing himself. But he's nearly there. He nearly has Marko. He just needs to break past Frost and _push_.

He dives under the surface. Every stroke closer, he can feel the power struggle shifting his way. He only has to go a little further.

\---

Erik has enough metal in his clothes to push himself through the water, but the waves are rough and the water's cold. He keeps going, though, follows the other mutant beneath the water. Someone that strong, someone whose ability is that powerful-- Erik can't let him go, can't lose him to the ocean. It can't be like this.

He catches up at last, his arms wrapped around the other mutant's chest. The other mutant struggles, and for a moment, their minds merge:

_"--little brat, snooping around in--"_

_"--my_ wife _, it's none of your--"_

_"--a lesson, Cain, put him in the dirt--"_

_"--what if I did kill your father, you can't prove it, you freak--"_

Erik holds on.

\---

In an instant, Charles knows everything about the mutant behind him. His name is Erik Lehnsherr. He survived Nazi Germany, pulled from a concentration camp by a man who wore an American flag as a uniform. He was brought here to the States, grew up with a man who called the soldier his friend-- and he builds things, works with metal, _metal_ , all Charles needs is _that power_ , that ability, he can use Erik's power to _crush_ that submarine--

«You can't.»

It reaches Charles's mind, and Charles's breath bubbles out of him, sheer shock flooding into him.

«You'll drown. You have to let go.»

Years of disgust, fear, terror-- and now, someone's reaching for Charles's power and thinking of it as a _gift_.

«I know what this means to you, but you're going to die.»

He can't-- he doesn't even know Charles, he doesn't know anything, how does he--

« _Please._ Charles. Calm your mind.»

Charles's hand drops away from his temple, and he lets Erik tug him upward, lets Erik bring them both above the surface. Marko slips from his grasp, but there might be another time. For now... they come up, gasping, and Charles grabs hold of Erik, feels Erik hold onto him in return.

«I thought I was alone,» he sends, and Erik just clutches him harder.

«You're not alone, Charles. You're not alone.»

_-end-_


End file.
